Larry Bird

Lawrence Joseph Bird is a retired professional basketball player and a coach who played for the Boston Celtics under the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the small forward position and his jersey number was 33.

Bird studied from the Springs Valley High School where he was leading scorer in the school basketball team. After completing his high school Bird was offered a basketball scholarship from the University of Indiana in the year 1974. At the University he was trained under the head coach Bob King. Bird led the team to the NCAA tournament finals where they lost to the Michigan State University which included the star player Magic Johnson.

In the 1978 NBA draft, Bird was traded to the Boston Celtics but he only started playing for the Celtics after his college education finished. He made his debut in the 1979 season and in his first year itself he was voted for the All Star Team. His average throughout the regular season was 21.3 ppg, 10.4 rpg and 4.5 apg. Eventually the team made it to the finals but lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. The following season the team made it to the playoff finals facing the Houston Rockets in a 6 game series. The team went on to defeat the Rockets and won its first NBA title under the leadership of the Bird.

In 1984 the Celtics once again made it to the NBA finals. This time they stood against the strong Lakers team and defeated them by 111-102 in the final game. Bird scored with an average of 27.4 ppg and 14 rpg.

In the 1988 season Bird recorded the best statistical figures of his career. However that season the team never made it to the finals as they were driven out by the Pistons in the semi finals. The 1989 season saw Bird out of the squad as he suffered from a bone injury and got operated to surgically remove bone spurs from both of his heels.

Bird’s injury followed a constant period of time which eventually led to decline in his performance. However Bird decided to retire from NBA on 18th August 1992. His career average for all the games he played was 24.3 ppg, 6.3 apg and 10.0 rpg.

Career Highlights

Larry won a Gold Medal for the USA team in 1992 and 3 NBA championships, in 1981, 1984 and in 1986. He was thrice winner of the NBA MVP’s, from 1984 to 1986, and NBA Rookie of the year 12 times in 1980-88 and in 1990-1992.

He was the NBA Coach of the year in 1998 having his jersey number 33 retired by the team of Boston Celtics. He was also named in the top 50 greatest players in NBA History.